Pinecones & Poetry

OK, here is a wonderful image blazoning across Facebook this morning of what I fondly call Shovel Pinecones, credited to Floyd Elzinga. They are actual old shovels “repurposed” and arranged to look like giant pinecones just sitting there on a field.

I love it! Why?

It’s partly the “repurposing” and re-seeing of these common, useful tools; partly that they get a new life as art; partly that they are both realistic and surreal in looking like something familiar but being wildly out of proportion; and partly my personal taste. I like the spare, the organic, the simple. I am drawn to miniature and gigantic things.

Here, I like the subtle, muted colors. The unexpected but perfectly natural resemblance of shovels to pinecones.

Now I am thinking artichoke.

Now I have a question for you. Speaking as the poetry editor, what images attract you and make you decide to click on the poetry features here at Escape Into Life?

Here, try this! Here’s the Poetry category page for this magazine.

Click on it and see which images draw you in, and then click on a couple of those poetry features. Go ahead! Click and look!

How did the images interact with the poems for you? If you are a regular reader, you know that the juxtaposition of images and poems is done later, by me, that the artist and poet are not “illustrating” each other’s work. But I do hope the images pull you toward words and images created by words in a satisfying way. Which images got you?! Which poets did you click on? And why?

Let me know!

Floyd Elzinga’s Website